The largest continent and countries in Asia are China, India, and Russia. The fourth-largest country is China. “As such, Chinese culture has the potential to have a significant impact on the world, and developing an appropriate leadership strategy for working in this area is critical.” (Mainland Asia, 2021). So many things I can talk about Chinese culture and their business impact on the world and share so many positive ideas for leadership. 

 

The Deaf community is tiny, but China opened the first Deaf Starbucks in Malaysia, China. So now are five Deaf Starbucks globally, three in China, Japan, and the United States (Washington DC). China’s leadership was great to develop for the Deaf community and give them opportunities to have a place full of Deaf workers. In addition, they showed the world how to communicate with Deaf people in different ways. “Customers have several options when ordering in the store, including contactless speech-to-text voice recognition through a tablet at the register, pointing to items on the menu, or writing on a notepad.” (First Look: Starbucks Opening Its Fifth €˜signing Store’, 2020). 

 

The first Deaf Starbucks is in Washington DC, a few miles from Gallaudet University (the first Deaf university). I have never been there, but I’ve heard from my friends and sister that it was a charming and friendly place. So it was a big inspiration for the Deaf community to know that there is a Deaf Starbucks. It was the best news for us because Deaf individuals could feel comfortable working there without barriers in communication. 

 

Overall, leaderships from Asia are successful because they could spread opportunities for the Deaf to develop their ideas in the businesses. “In particular, an overall Asian leadership strategy for power distance, uncertainty avoidance, masculinity, and indulgence–restraint is likely to be successful.” 

(Summary, 2021). 

References: 

First Look: Starbucks opening its fifth ‘signing store’. (2020, June 25). Chain Store Age. https://chainstoreage.com/first-look-starbucks-opening-its-fifth-signing-store

Mainland Asia. (2021). Psu.Instructure.Com. https://psu.instructure.com/courses/2146712/modules/items/32847702

 

Summary. (2021). Www.Psu.Instructure.Com. https://psu.instructure.com/courses/2146712/modules/items/32847704

The most essential for the leader is to understand and knowledge about other cultures. In this blog, I’ll be talking about business and the Deaf. “An ethic is a set of principles defining right conduct for a social group, a culture, or a nation.” (Abramson & Moran, 2018). From my experience and what I’m seeing that the leaders are not aware of Deaf individuals. American Sign Language is our value and the most essential to communicate. This blog aims to show why a leader should be knowledgeable and understand the Deaf community and cultures. 

 

Heather McDonald made a horrible joke about using American Sign Language on her social media, an American actress. She was using fake sign language with a guy, unsure who he was. She is an actress and should not be mocking the Deaf community with “Fake Sign Language” on one of her podcasts on social media. She didn’t show her empathy or understanding of why American Sign Language should not be joking around.  It is a big offensive to the Deaf community. She is a leader for her platform, and this is a perfect example that she does not understand other cultures. 

 

Another example that I can share is that the White House promised to provide American Sign Language on the screen so the Deaf community can be involved. This is a perfect example from a leader, President Joe Biden’s administration. He provided an American Sign Language for the presses, and it was on the screen. It was the best news that we heard and understood the presses due to the pandemic for the last two years now. When the pandemic started, things were not easy for the Deaf community because Trump’s administration didn’t provide an American Sign Language. Fortunately, most states and major cities like Philadelphia, New York City, and more provided American Sign Language. Whoever provided an American Sign Language was the perfect example of good leadership for the Deaf community. “Employees view improvements and communication as a two-way street, with the leader being as influenced by his or her workforce as the workforce is by management.” (Abramson & Moran, 2018). 

 

Overall, the leader needs to be knowledgeable and understand the Deaf community and cultures so the Deaf community can be part of everything. It would be great if leaders find great resources providing the best access to communication for the Deaf community or other cultures. However, there are no excuses for the leader to “not know” that there are no resources for different languages. 

 

References: 

Abramson, N. R., & Moran, R. T. (2018). Managing Cultural Differences: Global Leadership for the 21st Century (10th ed.). Routledge.

 

Li, L. (2021, January 27). White House briefings will now include an American Sign Language interpreter. CBS News. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/white-house-briefings-will-now-include-an-american-sign-language-interpreter/

 

Communication is my enemy. I was born Deaf and struggled to have effective communication with hearing people. American Sign Language is my primary language so, English is my second language. It is not easy to communicate with someone who doesn’t know Deaf or different cultures. “When the receiver understands what the sender means, successful communication has occured.” (Abramson & Moran, 2018). 

 

Communication is effective if the receiver understands what the senders are saying. “There is no “one-size-fits-all” approach to communication, nor is there a “typical” deaf person.” (Communicating With Deaf Individuals, 2019). There is no perfect way to communicate with a Deaf person or someone who speaks a different language. There are many ways to effectively communicate with a Deaf person, write and pen, gestures, texting, technology, and American Sign Language interpreter if available. 

 

“Effective visual communication relies on a user-friendly setting.” (Communicating With Deaf Individuals, 2019). Therefore, the best effective communication in the background is to have fewer people around. Also, as for a hearing person, it is essential to have a proper appearance like neutral color clothes, nails, hair, etc. So, Deaf people won’t be distracted by noise background. For example, when I had my road test to get my ’driver’s license, I requested an American Sign Language interpreter. Unfortunately, they didn’t provide one but referred me to a location where one of the workers is fluent in sign language. Unfortunately, she wasn’t fluent or certified to be an interpreter, she had long and neon nails, so there were distractions during the test. “For instance, if we are being even mildly egocentric when encoding our message to someone who isn’t fluent in the language we are communicating in, the risk for misinterpretation is multiplied because that person already has some trouble with general message interpretation simply because that person is not as familiar with a language different than their original one.” (Challenges of Communication in a Global Context, 2021). 

 

Again, communication is my enemy, but it is essential for my future career as a therapist. It would be easy if you were open-minded and effort to communicate with someone in a different language or culture. It would be great if you know more than one language and understand other cultures, but please don’t be afraid to tell the truth, if you’re not fluent in their language. It will be appreciated if you’re honest. 

 

References: 

Abramson, N. R., & Moran, R. T. (2018). Managing Cultural Differences: Global Leadership for the 21st Century (10th ed.). Routledge.

 

Challenges of Communication in a Global Context. (2021). Penn State. https://psu.instructure.com/courses/2146712/modules/items/32847668

 

Communicating With Deaf Individuals. (2019). National Deaf Center. https://www.nationaldeafcenter.org/sites/default/files/Communicating%20with%20Deaf%20Individuals.pdf

 

Defining Communication. (2021). Penn State. https://psu.instructure.com/courses/2146712/modules/items/32847666

 

Hi!

My name is Laura, and this year is my second year majoring in Psychology at World Campus. I’m a stay-at-home mom with two kids (3 months old and 4 years old). My oldest will start pre-kindergarten next week. I have a great husband who’s supporting me to continue my education at Penn State World Campus. I have a big dream to be a therapist with Deaf children and hearing parents/family. I was born Deaf with hearing parents. My sister and I were the only Deaf in the family. My parents got the right resources for my sister and me to be part of the Deaf community. When I was growing up, I’ve seen some peers’ parents couldn’t communicate with their children because they didn’t learn how to sign and communicate with Deaf children. After seeing peers’ negative experiences without communication at home, I would love to be a therapist and provide the best resource for the family with Deaf children.

I am looking forward to learning something new from this course.